Cover unit for a pocket knife and a process for making the same



3, 195-9 'A. M; BAER 2,908,096

COVER UNIT FOR A POCKET KNIF E A PROCESS FOR MAKING THE SAME Filed Feb. 2o.. 195s IN V EN TOR. 141860) /'7 5409 BY. KCLL AZLQ t dimer nitedwe en ofifics 1 covnn FOR A POGKETKNIFE AND A *PRGCESS SAME Albert M. Ba er, New Yorl ,;N.Y,, assignor to Imperial .Knife ,Company, Inc, Providence, R.I., axcorporation a-.; f h %1? 1. l E i 5 Application February 20, 1956,-Serial No. 566,435 r 1' Claim, 101.4142

Thisinventionrelates toacover unit for a' pocket knife and to a process formaking the same. More particularly the invention isconcernedyith .anornamental knife cover mi and its m t d. 9f m nufa ure O -ne. of the most common ornamental effects present in a knife cqver unit is that obtained by providing the scale with areas ofdiiferent predetermined shapes and colors, and it is {to a unit so ornamented -that the present inventionrelates, p 3

. One typical example of this ornamental effect is .a silver shield on. amonochrome background. Another is the group of git/ et heads that constitute the visible parts of rivetswhich in the past werensed tohold a scale to a knife. Replicas of these heads still are present on some forlornamentalelfect alone, the rivets having been eliminated. Still another example is a metalband that transversely spans a seale. 1

., ;This;qrnamental eifectcan secured inhman-y Ldifferent ways, for instance by ,securing'a metal member on the outer surface .of a ,thiclgscale member, or by forming-an opening of suitable shape in a thin opaque plastiqsheet that is wrapped around ,a .sheet metal supportandlocating in the opening .a protuberance carried the support, or by molding an ,intaglio impression of the desiredcontourfin .the underpart-ofa thick, stiff transparent cover, silvering the impression' and applying a differentcolor to the undersurfaeeofthe balance of the cover.

additional;manufacturingcosts in added parts, labor, -maand dies, and therefore gmaterially increases the cost, of la knife 1 without enhancing. its durability or e c ncy-1,,

It is the primary object of (the present invention to provide ;a coverunit .and method of the character described which avoid the foregoing difliculties .andenable the dress of a knife to simulate any one of theold embodimentsof the aforesaid ornamental effect for buta slightadditional manufacturing ,cost. I u i r It is another objectof the invention to provide a cover unit andkmethod .of 'thech'arac'ter described which enable new and almost limitless embodiments of said effect to be obtained without appreciable increase in' cost.

It is anotherobject of: the, invention to provide a cover unit and method-of the character described which create a highly realistieornamental effect that to casual observers-realistically simulates the origina 'struction, eg, the --actual--shield,

heads {or -metal To secure the ornamental eifect. requires substantial.

and rugged ornamental cover unit is produced. a

a method of the character described whereby -.a;-;du r abl ei Still another object of the invention is to provide a pocket knife having a-cover unit of the character described which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture'. T; r:- ,Other objects of the invention in part will be obvious and in part, willbe pointed out hereinafter. The invention. accordingly, consists in the features .of construction, combinations of elements, arrangementsaof parts and series of steps which will :be exemplified in the device and process hereinafter described and of:.which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claim.

Inthe accompanying drawingsin which :is .shown one 'of the various possible embodiments of the invention,"

Fig. l is a side view of a pocket knife having an orna:

I mental cover unit constructed in accordance with the inventiony I tfig. 2 is a-bottom view-of the pocket knife shownin Fig.1;

Pig. 3..is a perspective view of a cover unit embodying I the invention,'a portion of the outer sheet being broken .6 l-ornamental 'con- It is another object of the invention to provide a cover away; a Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 44-of Fig.3; w Fig. 5 is :an exploded view of the cover unit Shownin Fig. 3, the cover sheet being shown opened outiz; Fig. .6 is a schematic perspective view-ofaprintingipress employed in the method of producing a decorativewcover unit-of the character described; and I Fig. 7 is a schematic perspective view ofia cutting tool employed in the method of the instant invention'; .Generally, the objects of the invention;are:;cai:ried:out by drumtightly stretching :across the externalsur faceriof a scale ;a transparent plastic sheet ,having a suitably colored undersurface preferably including one ormor'e uncolore d areas. The invention will be described-With respect to the production of a cover unit having astransversely extending simulated metal band, :althoughfithe method can be usedto produce any desired ornamental elfect. In order to obtain ,a cover unit which: trulyuappears to have the design on the outside'of :theiiunit; the sheet must be tightly held against the scale so that the bright scale surface seen through the transparent-por- .tion of the clear plastic sheet will not appear toibe heneath the same, but will seem to be in the same planeas the sheet itself. Moreover, thecolor or'idefiign-fshould be on the surface thereof which faces the scaleginlorder to obtain the illusion that both the color and the e" erna-l surface of the scale are a continuous single surface. This also prevents the design and color from beingqscratched ,or worn. Preferably the scale is arched, conventionally transversely, so that when the sheet is --transv erse ly stretched across the scale its undersurface will intimately contact the external surface of the scaleto heighten 'the illusion that ,the coloring material and scale surface are in acommon plane. v 1 v Referring nowin detail to-the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a pocket -knife'havingcover units constructed in accordancewith the invention, The knife includes a conventional metal frame 12 arnetalliner '14 being provided oneach side thereof. A cover-unit '16 is-'superimposed oneach liner at the outside thereof, and blades 17 are located in the frame. The cover units are secured to the frame in any accepted manner, as, for example, by cars 18 at the ends of the coveruni-t received in pockets 19 at the ends of the metal liners. 7 Each cover unit comprises a transversely arched, elongated sheet metal scale 20 with a bright external surface and a clear transparent plastic sheet 22, fabricated, for example, from a thermoplastic, e.g., cellulose acetate. The sheet includes marginal edge portions 23 the pur- 3 pose ofwhich' will-become apparent hereinafter. At each end of the scale on the external surface thereof a raised bolster 24 is provided integrally therewith, each bolster including a rib 28 adjacent the intermediate eX- ternal surface 26 of thescale.

' In the knife-shown herein, and pursuant to a feature of-the instant invention, a central, transverse, transparent section 30 is provided in the sheet 22. The portions '32, 34 of the sheet on each side of said section may "be of different color from one another or have different designs, the color or designs being provided on the-undersurfaceof the sheet, i.e., the surface which is to face the scale. 7

The sheets 22 are drilrntightly held stretched across I theexternalsurfaee 26 of the scale between the bolsters 24Tin the manner shown and described in United States Letters Patent'No. 2,689,400 issued, September 21, 1 954 and owned by'the assignee of the present application,

Briefly, theprocess of attachment is as follows: The sheet is placed on the intermediate external surface 26 of the scalepand the marginal edge portions 23 of the sheet are folded around the lateral edges 'of the'lscale andbronght beneath-the same. The folds are locally it ornamentedsheets. 'This can be accomplished 1 in the v scribed above canbeflernployed toproduce sheets of diverse sizes and shapes to -fit corresponding scales.

plasticized, as by the application of heat and pressure whilethe sheet is under tension, so as to permanently set the folds, andso that upon deplasticization a controlled, slight, transverse shrinkage of the sheet will'take place whereby to stretch thesheet drumtightly across the scale. When the sheet is tightly held to the scale, there will appear to be a bright metal band across the cover unit in the region of the central, transverse, transparent band 30, this eifect being created bythe intimate contact between the sheet and scale, the slight thickness of the sheet, and the smooth stretched surface of the sheet. in this 'way an article accomplishing the objects of the invention is produced. I :The'sheets-22 conveniently are produced from a'large panel 36Of thermoplastic which is printed the de- 7 sired colors .or design in a roller printing press 38 (see Fig. 6); -The press-includes rollers 40 which have annular-equally spaced grooves 42-disposed between the ends thereof. -The grooves form non-printing areas that dividethe rollers into printing surfaces 44. 'The printing surfaces can be adapted to print designs, and'the I color of theink supplied thereto can be varied to perm-it printing of different colors. I

-For a reason to be made apparent hereinafter, the distance between every other groove 42 is slightly greater than the length of the intermediate surface 26 of the particular scale with which the sheet being fabricated is to be used. The printing'process produces a panel having a plurality of clear transparent bands 46 corresponding to the grooves; the areas 48 between said sections have various colors or designs printed thereon.

' The sheets are stamped outofthe panel by a steel rule die 50. The cutting edge 52 of said die has a length and shape corresponding to the desired length and shape of the sheet 22 to be produced.

The dies is used by placing it transverselyon the panel between-alternate transparent sections 46 and forcing its cutting edge through the strip. For this purpose the die may .bemounted in a press such as is conventionally used in connection with steel rule-cutting dies.

:Inasmuch as the length of a given die is the. same as that of the intermediate external surface 26 0f the scale for which said die is adapted to produce sheets,'the steel i die can be placed on the panel transversely between alternate bands 46. Thus, each cutting -by the die will produce a sheet having a: central, transverse, transside thereof. scribed may, duce a cutting tool extending'across In this way many sheets 22 may gbe stampedout at the same time.

It will be appreciatedtlrat by var ying the color .of

ink supplied to the rollers; 5 or 'by varying the design, the rollers can be adapted to print a"'great variety of same printing press by using different colors and de signs for the various printing surfaces thereof. The (118- tancebetween annular grooves can also be varied to produce more than one transparent band on the result ing sheets; Still further,- the grooves can'bemade slanting -or longitudinal on theIrolle r' instead of annularso thatslantingfiand longitudinal transparent bands are produced in the, sheets. --And-,-of course, thePIOCESSjdC- areas may be shaped to simulate rivet heads and shields so'asto produce'the appearance of the other hereinabove described." p i7 7 It thus will be seen that there are; provided a device and method for making the same which-achieve the several objects of the inventionQand arewell-adaptcdto meetthe conditions of practical use. V p

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and' as variousi changes might made in the embodimentabove set forth, it is to beamderstood that i all matter hereindescribed, and shown in the accompanyingdrawings, is to beinterpreted as illustrative notiin a limiting sense- Having thus described'rny invention, 1 claim-as new" and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A decorative cover unit for-a knife, said unit having a simulated metal design area. in its surface andfincluding a metal member having "anoutwardly convex polished external surface, andfia "thin flexible plastic sheetioverf lying said, external surface, themarginal edgeportions of said sh ect'b'eing turned'under the edges of saidmember and said sheet being tensed'thereon'so as to be in intimate contact therewith withouta bondtherebetween,

said, sheet" having a color less,'*transparent section disposed adjacent a portion having n opaque color on the undersurface thereof different from that of said extern al surface so that said transparent section will show a. reilected metallic design area in the shape ofsaid' section and seemingly a part ofthe sheet. r V

References Cited'in the file of this patent v UNITED STATES PATENTS y V 25, 2 4 -.-R char & .1 8

Mirando 

